Stunning Image: 3D Model of Ebola Virus

by Nina Sen | February 21, 2012 03:17am ET

The Ebola virion is 80 nm in diameter and up to 1400 nm long. The model includes 11 Ebola and human proteins, 18900 nucleotides of genomic RNA and more than 2.5 million of different lipid molecules of 8 types. Virus-encoded proteins are depicted in maroon shades while structures taken from the host cell are gray.Credit: Ivan Konstantinov, Yury Stefanov, Alexander Kovalevsky, Anastasya Bakulina/Visual Science

This poster by the group Visual Science highlights one of the most dangerous pathogens in the world—The Ebola virus. The virus is responsible for outbreaks of fatal hemorrhage fever throughout Africa. In this 3D model of the virus a complex structure of polypeptides, lipids, and RNA genome are highlighted. Ebola is only 1,400 nanometers long but contains about 3 millions lipids and other proteins. The poster received an honorable mention at the 2011 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge hosted by Science Magazine.

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Nina Sen

Nina Sen is a frequent contributor to Live Science’s Life’s Little Mysteries series: an exploration and explanation of our world’s phenomena, both natural and man-made. She also writes astronomy photo stories for Live Science's sister site Space.com.